The Hunger Games
by mydarlingjuliet
Summary: My heart dropped. All time had ceased to start back up. The pouding in my heart was like a bass in my ears. I trembled under the shear silence of District 12. Before I knew it, I had sprang from my spot, desperately calling out, "I volunteer!"


***Based off of the Hunger Games. **_**Extremely **_**similar storyline though mixed up a **_**little**_**! Many of the same scenes and lines are used from the books.***

**Juliet: Okay, new story! I hope you read the warning at the top.**

**Mai: This should be…interesting.**

**Juliet: Oh, it will be. And if you haven't read the series, check them out! You don't have to, to read this FanFic. But I recommend giving it a read!**

**Mai: Sweet. Disclaimer: mydarlingjuliet does not own anything!**

**Chapter One- I am Mai Taniyama**

Mai Taniyama. That was my name here, in District 12. We were poor, one of the poorest districts out there. There were 12 districts in all. Well, not counting district 13, of course. My family consisted of my younger sister, Rinny, my mother, Rinny's goat, Yu, and Rinny's scraggly cat, Aka. My mother does nothing for our family. Not since she fell into a depression when my father died. My sister sells Yu's milk for money. I go out hunting everyday over the fence, in the woods with Lin. We sell half of what we make at the Hob, and split the other half between us for our families. That was how we made life in District 12.

I lifted my arm and closed one eye, aiming with the other. In the instant my fingers let go of their hold, a dark brown arrow soared through the sky at lightning speed, accurately hitting its target. A squirrel in the tree. My lip crooked up and I lowered my weapon, setting out to collect the animal the second I heard its thud against the summer leaves.

I grasp it in one hand and pull the arrow from out of its eye with the other. Stuffing the animal into my game bag, I checked out my haul. Two squirrels, one fish and a rabbit today. Not bad, but I could've done better. Lin came up from behind, being careful not to let anyone overhear on accident. "Happy Hunger Games, Mai."

That being said, a horrid thought struck me and I grimaced. Rinny just recently turned twelve and she was now old enough to be drawn for the Games, just like most every other kid in Panem, our country. How I rued this day to come. How I wished Rinny would never even have to think about her first reaping.

I smile in displeasure. The older boy hands me some nearby berries from a bush, leading me to a log. We both sit. "A berry? So that the odds," he begins in his Capitol accent, mimicking the ever so upbeat Matsuzaki Ayako. Tossing one in an arch in the air, I catch it inside of my mouth and grin as the flavors explode on my tongue, "Be _ever_ in your favor!" I finish just as excited as Lin had. We both laugh lightly, trying not to be too loud. The reaping… It was better to laugh over it then be terrorized by it. And the Capitol. They ruled our small country of Panem. They were the richest, and the ones who controlled us. Kept us locked in like prisoners and yet somewhat safe at the same time.

"Here," Lin tells me, changing the subject momentarily. "I got this today." Pulling out his knife and fresh bakery bread, Lin begins to cut into it, handing me a slice.

I stare at it, amazed. "How much?" Referring to how much it cost. Bakery bread, still warm and puffed up as well, must have cost a bundle. "One squirrel," he answers. My head swings up. Just one? "Must've been feeling generous today." Then I understood.

"Yeah, we all seem to be like that today."

Lin gazes up into the sky after slicing a piece of the treasure for himself. The sun shines against his slick black hair, covering one eye. His skin is pale, yet right for him. Today, he's clad in simple hunting clothes. A plain green shirt tucked into long, coal black tights with black boots. His eyes as dark and mysterious as ever. "So," he starts off. "Today's the day, huh?"

I lay my back on the log and chew my bread slowly. "Of course. Once every year."

Lin shifts his gaze to me, "How many tesserae did you get this year?" Tesserae. Anyone from the ages of twelve to eighteen can apply for tessera, which supplies them with a meager supply of grain and oil. It's only good for barely one family member for maybe a month, but you can do this for as many of them as you'd like. However, each tessera you sign up for puts another slip with your name in the reaping glass jar. _The reaping glass jar. _Two separate glass balls, one for females and one for males. Every year at the reaping a name is pulled from each jar from each district. Those picked from the jar are chosen to fight in the Hunger Games; punishment for what had happened in District 13, when they tried to rebel against the Capitol. Now, every year we have the sick minded games where two people, male and female between the ages of 12 and 18, are picked from each District to fight to the death. And even worse, we're forced to treat it as thought it were a special holiday, a festival.

"My name is in their 20 times." Lin already knew that. And I already know that his name is in their 42 times. Lin has two brothers and a sister. Plus Prim. And our mothers might as well be in that group of people too. Including us, that is many starving mouths to feed. Without our support, who knows what would happen to them. Who'd feed their mouths which are always wanting more? Even when we both hunt every single day, we still have days when game has to be traded for wool or shoelace or things besides food. There are still nights when we sleep with rumbling stomachs.

It was silent for a moment. Lin broke the ice, "Mai?" I cock my head in his direction. "Hm?"

He faced me, eyes serious as ever. Sitting upright, he informs me, "We could make it, you know." I look into his dark orbs. Confusion set over my facial features. Lin must've noticed and added on, "The two of us. We could escape the District. Escape the awfulness of the Capitol. You and me- we could make it on our own in the woods, Mai." I knew how much Lin despised the Capitol. How cruel they were. How there was something fishy about them and the way they work. He would scream about them sometimes. Laugh about it, even. But only in the woods. We dared not voice our opinions about the Capitol and their people inside the fence, inside of the District, where the bloody Peacekeepers would beat us to death, or where people could turn us in. The awful Peacekeepers who work for the Capitol. Though, they're alright when it comes to selling them my game, which is illegal. They could have shot us every day for what we do. And Lin knew I hated the Capitol just as much as him- if not, more. I wonder what good it even does him, to yell at the Capitol in the woods. It doesn't change anything, but still, I let him do it.

Just the thought was absurd. I wasn't sure what to say. I pursed my lips. Run away? Lin and I?

Quickly he adds, "If there wasn't the family, I mean." Of course. Rinny, my mother, Lin's siblings and his mother. The most ridiculous thing about it was that he was probably right. Maybe the two of us really _could_ make it alone in the woods. But that's not an option to consider. Ever. Rinny and Mom need me, and Rinny, the only living person in the world I love? How can I abandon that? Without me- without Lin and I's support, and even Rinny's goat, without us I have no clue how we'd survive. _We wouldn't. _I thought unhappily.

I stay silent until I think of something to say that wouldn't hurt Lin. "Maybe." He averts his eyes back to the sky.

The atmosphere felt awkward now. I wiggled in my seat before sighing, "What do you want to do now?"

His answer was firm, "We've got nice game from today. Let's go to the Hob, sell it for something nice for tonight."

Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate. Celebrate their child not having to compete in the Hunger Games this year. But for those two unfortunate families, shutters will be drawn and the start of the painful next weeks to come begins. I nod and ask, "What did you make out with?"

The boy smiles, "Stuck with fishing near the pond today. Caught nine. Got a bag of greens and strawberries, too." Nine fish wasn't bad. Normally we come out with maybe a dozen, so nine was good. "I've got two squirrels, one rabbit and a single fish. Oh, and I suppose we could pick some berries, as well." Lin agrees and I start on pulling the delicious fruit from the bush, hopping from my spot on the log.

"I was near the pond today and speared the fish with my bow. Didn't have my pole on me. It was a lucky hit." It really was, too. Spearing was something I was never great at. Hand me a knife and I can catch fairly well, though. But my weapon is a bow. Lin nods back to me as he starts arranging what we planned on selling to Greasy Sae. She was the bony old woman who made my trades. Worked at the Hob, in the black market there, too.

After I picked a sufficient amount of blueberries, I put them in my pouch to ensure they wouldn't be squished. We made our way the Hob. Most businesses would be closed by now, seeing as it was the day of the reaping, but the black market is still rather busy.

Seven of our fish was traded for good bread, the other two for some salt. Greasy Sae collects half of our greens for a few chunks of paraffin. Even though we could do a little better elsewhere, Greasy Sae was the only one consistent enough to buy our wild dog, so we tend to keep up good terms with her.

Wild dogs aren't something we hunt for knowingly, but if we come across one who attacks us, then we shoot. Meat is meat. No one in the Seam, the dirtier and poorer part of District 12, really cares what's up for eating, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob tend to be pickier, so Greasy Sae calls the dogs 'beef' with a wink.

We finish our trades and head for the back door of the mayor's house to sell half of our strawberries. The mayor has always been fond of the delicacy. His daughter, Saaya, opens the door for us. We're in the same grade at school. Like me, she keeps to herself. Though I'm quiet in school, I do have friends, yet I tend to stick with her for partnered things. Even at lunch we sit together. But hardly ever do we speak, which is just fine.

She is suited in a fine white dress that lands a little above her knees with a baby blue ribbon tied into her light brown locks. Reaping clothes.

"Pretty dress," I say slightly. And it was, indeed, a very pretty dress. Expensive looking, as well. She casts me a shadow of a smiled, "It wouldn't hurt to look nice if I end up going to the Capitol."

"But you won't be," Lin says smoothly. I notice his eyes drift to the solid gold pin of her dress. That pin would be enough to feed a family bread for months. Beautifully crafted and real gold.

We all know Lin is right. Saaya has no more than five slips of her name in the reaping jar. Lin had six his first year of being eligible. That was when he was twelve. Now he is eighteen and has his in forty two times. It was the same for me at twelve. My name was in there four times, now at sixteen it is in there twenty. It isn't her fault that it happens like that, but there's nothing we can do.

Saaya says nothing. She hands me the money for the strawberries, "Good luck, Mai." "You, too." The door closes shut. I glance at the stoic man before me. He slides his hands into his pockets and starts walking. I sigh lightly and catch up to him.

Lin was wrong to say that to Saaya, but he was still right. The reaping system was unfair. At the age of twelve, your name is entered once, excluding the times for tessera. At thirteen, twice, and so on. It's obvious that someone like Saaya, who's never needed the tesserae, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is extremely slim, but still possible. Especially compared to those of us who live in the Seam. What Saaya thought was a harmless comment, meant more than that to Lin. The roughness of his features confirmed that much.

Lin and I divide our catch. We each get two fish, a few loaves of good bread, some vegetable greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin and a little bit of money.

"I'll see you in the square," I say. He keeps one hand stuffed in his pocket and uses the other one to sling his sack of goods over his shoulder. "Wear something pretty," He says emotionlessly.

I open the doors to my home. My mother and Rinny are ready to go. Mom wears a fine dress from her apothecary days. Rinny is set in her first reaping outfit. A yellow ruffled blouse and pink skirt. The clothes were big on her, as she was having trouble keeping her blouse tucked in at the back.

My mother has prepared a tub of warm water for me. All of today's grime is scrubbed off my skin and I even bother to wash my hair. Surprisingly, I find one of my mother's lovely dresses laid out for me when I'm done. Turquoise with matching shoes.

"Can I really?" I ask. Before, after her depression, she always tried to help me with things. I would reject her offers instantly. But this was something unique and I was trying hard to get out of that habit now. Anything from the past was worth wonders to my Mom. They were very special.

She smiles at me lightly, "Of course. I'll do your hair, as well." I sit in a seat and wait as my mother towel dries my hair and combs it down, pushing my bangs behind my ears. In the cracked mirror across from me, I barely recognize myself. For once, I actually looked pretty.

"Finished," she tells me and I stand, slipping on the dress that lay on the bed. It was gorgeous. Strapless, with the hem ending just below the knees. Simple and elegant. I guide my feet into the shoes. They were the same hue as my dress. Flats with a small bow on the end of each one. It was something, to wear a dress this nice. This is the only time I'd ever be able to wear it. I almost appeared as though I weren't from the Seam.

"You look beautiful, Mai," Rinny grins.

I embrace her in a hug. _But nothing like me_. I wanted to say. The rest of this day will be nothing but hell to the fragile girl in my arms. The first reaping always is. Every reaping is. But I know Rinny is as safe as possible. Her name is only entered once. I refuse her to take any tesserae. She whimpers and I know she is worried about me more than herself. Because from where I stand, the chances are high for my name to be picked.

Rinny is pretty much my everything. I protect her through thick and thin yet these few hours keep me unable to do that. I am powerless today. Against the odds of Matsuzaki Ayako and her hand pulling out Rinny's name. Or even Gale's or mine. In the pit of my stomach I feel nothing but anguish. Tears threaten to spill over but I compose myself and mask my feelings. I glance down and notice the back of my sister's shirt has fallen out from her skirt again.

I swallow the lump in my throat and sigh, pulling apart, fixing her clothes "Tuck in your tail, little duck."

She laughs and quacks. "Quack yourself," I say, allowing a smile to grace my lips. Rinny is one of the few people who I show a genuine smile to. Since I was little, I would always spout out horrendous things about the Capitol. My mother was aghast. Eventually, I learned to shut my mouth before I worried Mom to death or Rinny began saying the ridiculous things as well. Given that, I keep quiet and tend to be a little hostile, only being real around people like Lin or Rinny. The people I trust. But I still smile and keep my head held high.

"How about we eat?" I announce, and give my sister a small kiss on her forehead and pat her head. I prepare our meal. The fish and vegetable greens have been cleaned and are now sitting in the stew. That feast is for supper. We all pick strawberries and the bakery bread as our meal now. From Rinny's goat, Yu, we drink milk and eat the dark, rough bread made from the tessera grain.

One o'clock rolls around fast, and we head for the square. Attendance to the reaping is always mandatory unless you're on your death bed. If you deny the fact to come, Peacekeepers will imprison you.

The square. It was one of the handful of places in District 12 that are nice. It's sad that they hold the reaping here. The air felt grim around the packed area. Despite all of the brightly painted banners, everything seems amiss. The camera crews are perched on the many surrounding rooftops, making it feel more sullen.

People begin to file in quietly, signing in at a desk with different sheets of nice white paper that have names printed on them. Children from the ages of twelve to eighteen are directed into roped off areas which are marked by different age groups. Oldest in front, and youngest, meaning Rinny, are sent to the back. Family members enclose the perimeter and hold hands, hoping that it isn't their own child that will be called to death this year. Many people who don't care, or don't have anyone related to them who are participating are also found in the crowd, making bets on whose names will be drawn. These same people tend to be informers, and who hasn't broken the law? Lin and I could be shot everyday for hunting over the gates, but the Peacekeeper's appetites are what protect me. But not everyone like me has that privilege.

Soon, the space becomes packed full, difficult to move a limb without touching someone else. The square is big, but not big enough to fit everyone from our district. The population is ever growing, and now we are at about eight thousand.

I'm huddled in a group of sixteen's from the Seam. They smile small at me, as if saying good luck again this year. I give them a weak grin. Our attention is brought to a make-shift stage set up before our Justice Building; the towns hall. There, three chairs are set up, a podium, and two gigantic glass balls. _The reaping balls._ I think. One for males, the other for females. I stare mesmerized at the hundreds, even thousand, of paper slips floating around inside of the girl's ball. On twenty of those is Taniyama Mai. On one is Taniyama Rinny. Then I look up at the boy's ball. Forty two have the name Lin Koujo scrawled onto them. Out of the thousands in there, it seems slim, but in reality, it's as quick as the snap of a finger to get your name picked.

My gaze shifts to the 'stage'. Out of the three chairs set up, two are filled. One with Saaya's father, the mayor, who was tall, scrawny and quickly shedding hair and the other with Matsuzaki Ayako, District 12's escort, coming straight from the Capitol in her bouncy red hair, bizarre green jumpsuit and dreadful looking make up. They whispered back in forth in concern, glancing to the side every now and then. Most likely over the person missing in the chair beside Ayako.

The reaping begins at two. And as if on cue, the town clock strikes, ringing out for all to hear. Everyone becomes hushed as the mayor steps up onto the podium, coughing into his hand. He begins to tell a story. The same story we listen to every year about the history of Panem, the country that rose from the ashes of a place once known as Japan. He tells us of the disasters, droughts, fire, snow, storms. He explains how in the end of all the war and tragedy, Panem became what it is now. Then he mentions the Dark Days. The uprising of the districts against the Capitol. One through twelve was defeated, becoming what we are now. Thirteen was obliterated. We have a treaty which reminds us how those days must never happen again, and thus, the Hunger Games were born.

The Hunger Games was simple. In repentance for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide a girl and boy, known as tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes are sent unto a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a scorching hot desert to frozen tundra. Over a period of several weeks, the tributes fight to the death. The last tribute standing is the winner. That person receives a life of ease back home and their District will be showered in prizes. Most of that being food. All year, The Capitol will broadcast the winning Districts gifts and great supply of food, while every other District will battle starvation.

The whole thing sickens me. Taking kids from our Districts and forcing them to kill each other off while we sit back and watch. This is how we are reminded that we're all powerless. This is how the Capitol tells us we are under their command. How, at the blink of an eye, they could do exactly onto us what they did to District Thirteen. How little a chance we'd even have at surviving another rebellion.

Soon I hear the mayor, Mayor Jun, reading the list of our Districts victors. In the seventy-four years of the games, District twelve has only had two. Only one remains alive today. Takigawa Houshou, a middle aged man who is most always drunk, and seems to be hollering something unintelligible, stumbles onto the stage and plops unappealingly into the third chair. And what a surprise; he's drunk. Extremely. The crowd of people responds with a round of applause, but he appears to be so utterly drunk, he's unsure of what's going on. All of a sudden his arm is swung around Matsuzaki Ayako in a hug. She barely manages to escape from him and afterwards she seems horror-struck.

Mayor Jun is in full panic now, sweating bullets down his forehead. The entire reaping is being televised as we speak, and right now District 12 is the laughing stock of Panem, and sadly, our beloved mayor knows it. Quickly attempting to get everyone's attention, he begins to introduce Matsuzaki Ayako.

As happy as ever, she skips onto the stage and up to the podium, cheerfully calling out, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" Like every year. She starts by talking about what an honor it is to be here, although we all know she is dying to be sent to a better District. Ours was probably the worst of them all. Especially after Takigawa's little show, where he gang banged her in a 'hug' over national television.

I notice Lin through the crowd of eighteens giving me a slight smile. At least this reaping has been somewhat entertaining, as far as they go. Immediately the image of Lin's forty two names in the reaping jar surfaces to my mind, and how the odds are not in his favor. Well, compared too many of the other boys. And he might've been thinking the same thing about me, because suddenly his face darkens and he looks away. I wanted him to look back at me and let me tell him how there are many other slips in there. _Many others_.

It is finally time for the drawing. Matsuzaki Ayako says as she always does, "Ladies first!" She gallops to the glass ball which holds the girls' names. Her perfectly manicured hand slips into the jar and she digs around deep, pulling a single slip of fine white paper out.

Everybody sucks in a breath and it's quiet. Too quiet for my liking, as though if a pin were to drop, the sound would echo everywhere. Bile crawls up my throat in this very moment and I'm so desperately hoping that it's not me, not me, not me.

Ayako saunters back to the podium, fixes up the slip of paper, and reads the name out in a level voice. And it's not me who's name she calls out.

It's Taniyama Rinny's.

**Character Cast-**

***MAI…..KATNISS *JOHN…..CINNA**

***YASUHARA…..PRESIDENT SNOW *LIN…..GALE**

***BOU-SAN…..HAYMITCH *MASAKO…..RUE**

***AYAKO…..EFFIE * NARU…..PEETA**

**In all honesty, I believe John would make a great Peeta, Yasuhara could be a wicked Cinna and Naru would be an awesome Gale. And I still have no idea how Masako became Rue, but I needed the spots filled. These are the main characters throughout the book, anyhow. Not counting Cinna's crew, Ceaser, and a few of the tributes. If you don't know who any of these characters are, then that's okay too. And like I said in the beginning, this FanFic is almost the **_**exact same**_** as the Hunger Games Books. I take no credit. Well, I really hope you like it and I am updating my other stories as we speak… Sorry that I'm such a sucky writer and don't keep up with my work well. T.T**


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